“Civilisational erasure” – the term the Trump administration has coined to describe Europe’s future if current trends continue. This quote plucked from the new U.S. National Security Strategy marks the explicit declaration of the Trump administration’s culture war on Europe.
On January 20th, 2025, the first day of Trump’s second term, the United States abruptly withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement and halted cooperation with global environmental initiatives. This was carried out under Executive Order 14162, “Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements,” in line with Trump’s campaign-trail promise to “drill, baby, drill.”
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reaffirmed that the Paris Agreement remains “the best hope for all of humanity” and vowed that Europe would continue its climate commitments with any willing partners, pointedly declaring that the EU would not shift course despite Washington’s exit.
Europe’s green initiatives have also come under more visceral attack from the Trump administration. While visiting his golf course in Scotland in mid-2025, Trump lambasted Europe’s embrace of wind energy: “Stop the windmills. You’re ruining your countries… you see these windmills all over the place, ruining your beautiful fields and valleys and killing your birds,” he complained, dismissing Europe’s climate measures as “so sad.”
Trump’s rhetoric, which dismisses the scientific consensus on renewable energy in favour of cultural grievance politics, has widened the values gap between the far-right MAGA administration and European governments committed to the Green Deal and their emissions targets.
This schism was evident in diplomatic forums – for example, at international climate summits where EU delegates worked with other nations to uphold emissions pledges, while the Trump administration either absented itself or pushed back against any reference to climate action.
This clash over climate policy has become a symbolic battlefield in the broader culture war; Europe cast as a defender of multilateral environmental stewardship versus a Trump administration openly deriding climate science and “politically correct” green policies. Climate policy is no longer technocratic, but has become a frontline in the ideological struggle shaping the future of the transatlantic relationship.
Sources:
1. Reuters (2025). U.S. strategy document says Europe risks “civilisational erasure”.
2. Executive Order 14162 – “Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_14162
3. Reuters (2025). France calls new U.S. security doctrine a “brutal clarification”.
https://www.reuters.com/world/france-calls-new-us-security-doctrine-brutal-clarification-2025-12-09/
4. The Guardian (2025). European leaders say relationship with U.S. has fundamentally changed.
5. Reuters (2025). Hungary’s Orbán praises Trump strategy as grasping Europe’s “civilisation-scale decline”.
6. The Guardian (2025). Kremlin welcomes Trump National Security Strategy as aligned with Russia’s vision.
the long story 
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